The greatest goal-scorer in NHL history has two goals in 12 games. He has no points in his past four games. And on Saturday, he was demoted to the third line.
Which raises the question: has Father Time finally come for Alex Ovechkin?
If so, it was bound to happen, especially a year after the 40-year-old broke Wayne Gretzky's record for the most regular-season goals of all-time.
That record-breaking year, which saw Ovechkin finish the season with 44 goals and lead the Washington Capitals to the best record in the Eastern Conference, was emotional. But it was also probably emotionally draining.
It's not unusual that Ovechkin, who has accomplished everything he sought out to accomplish in his Hall of Fame-worthy NHL career, would take a step back this season. That being said, the drop in his production has been swift and significant.
Ovechkin, who is one goal away from 900 career goals, has gone four games without scoring. This season, he is averaging 2.25 shots per game — down from 3.65 in 2024-25. His shooting percentage is a career-low 7.4 percent — down from 18.6 percent in 2024-25.
Three times already, he's seen his ice time cut back to less than 17 minutes per game. In a game against the Rangers last month, he spent just 14:47 on the ice.
That's not the Ovechkin that Capitals fans have come to know. That's not the guy who you couldn't drag off the ice and who built a career on one-timing pucks past helpless goalies.
At one point in his career, Ovechkin was an ice hog who seemed to have one leg permanently hanging over the bench waiting for his next shift and was averaging more than 23 minutes of ice time. But those days are long gone. On a team that is transitioning to its youth, Ovechkin is no longer playing top-line minutes. He's not even a top-six forward right now, having lost his spot on a line with either Dylan Strome or Connor McMichael to rookie Ryan Leonard.
Instead, Ovechkin joined Hendrix Lapierre and Sonny Milano on what appeared to be the Washington Capitals' third line in a 4-3 shootout loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. It was the Capitals' fourth straight loss, with the team having managed just five goals in that span.
As some have noted, this isn't the first time that Ovechkin has started the season out slowly. Two years ago, he also had just two goals in October — although, he only played in eight games. But after scoring nine goals in the first four months, he exploded with 22 goals in the next three months and finished the season with 31 goals.
Still, it was one of Ovechkin's second-lowest goal totals of his career. The only one worse was in 2020-21, when he scored 24 goals in a 45-game season.
This year looks like it will be more of the same. Maybe that's why the Capitals are already running the team with one eye on the future. That means giving minutes to Leonard and Aliaksei Protas and depending less and less on Ovechkin.
After all, no one knows how much longer he'll be playing at a high level — much less playing altogether.
Ovechkin is in the final year of his contract. And now that he's won a Stanley Cup and beaten Gretzky's all-time goals record, there isn't much else for him to achieve besides padding his stats and perhaps making one more championship run.
When asked about his retirement plans, Ovechkin told ESPN's Emily Kaplan that health will be a determining factor.
"I still love (the) game. I still have passion," he said. "You just enjoy it because you never know when you’re going to get hurt or when you’re going to be retired… I don’t want to play hockey and then (can't) play soccer with my kids or I can skate with them.
"Right now, I’m just– I want to take as much energy from a crowd. You have to enjoy the moment."
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